Today was the day. Finally I'd get to see her face again though whether I'd be warmly welcomed or the opposite remained undetermined...probably the latter but I was hopeful at least. Thankfully however, I wouldn’t be around while they sentenced her to her three weeks in solitary because knowing how much she suffered there before, seeing her face as they told her how long she’d be trapped in that small and tiny room would no doubt break my heart…again.

I was to carry out my work in my new unit for now until Park got off his current job in my old one. Knowing he had been carrying out Taeyeon’s counts and contraband checks all this time after what he had done to her was unsettling to say the least. I wanted to take over immediately when I heard he’d be the one replacing me but, it’s what Taeyeon asked. She’d rather him than me and no matter how much that hurt, I respected her decision. But now…we were going to meet again whether she liked it or not.

I couldn’t keep my mind off of it the whole time I was going through the girls’ rooms. I couldn’t stop thinking of what would happen, how she would react. I have to say that I didn’t perform my best this morning because of that fact and actually asked Yuri who was currently on break after her graveyard shift if she’d check them over for me. I think she thought I was tired, she was right but that wasn’t the main reason, she could never know that reason. Nevertheless she accepted without a word and I retired to the employee restroom.

Eyeing my watch didn’t calm my nerves, in fact it made it worse – thirty minutes exactly. I looked into the mirror and out of habit tried to make myself appear reasonably presentable. I tried to use water to stick my slightly static hair down and then proceeded to fix it entirely after deeming it crappy. There was only so much I could do since long hair was to be tied in a tight bun to prevent wandering hands from tugging on it to try to make a point. 

Not everybody followed the rules though, the limited number of female officers here sometimes wore their hair in a ponytail or even down but after what happened with Nichkhun, I didn’t want to take any chances to get on his bad side. However, seeing as this was a big day I made my hair significantly looser, tying it into a messy bun that suited my face more than a tight one did. I didn't think anything of it until after checking my watch again, I was surprised to see I had spent twenty minutes in here fixing my hair and for what? It wasn’t as if I was trying to impress anyone…

Now stepping out of the security of the restroom I started to wonder again...about how she looked. Whether she lost weight from what happened between us or self-harmed to get rid of the pain that plagued her body after reliving the madness that was her life. What if-?

"We meet again Miss Hwang" he smiled as he approached, interrupting my thoughts. The man who started it all - Park. 

Looking him up and down casually and seeing that he had lost no weight whatsoever since the last time I saw him, I replied "We do" There was little to no emotion in my voice. He didn't deserve as much.

"I must say, hearing your drastic change of attitude from Nichkhun after what you told me before was...a surprise" he grinned. "I heard you mentally tortured an inmate, so seeing how you handle her today will be interesting to say the least"

"I bet it will" 

He smirked at that, he knew I didn't like him and I'm sure he'd love riling me up today. I'm with the bastard for the rest of my shift - twelve whole hours. If I don't either murder him or commit suicide by the end of it, I'll be very impressed with myself.
After our 'pleasantries' were over, we both started to walk to solitary in silence, the place where she was currently being held. I tried my best to remain calm, especially under his gaze but it proved to be difficult, my breath becoming slightly ragged as the thoughts of her resumed their place in my head.

“You alright?” He was sneering while he asked so I knew he wasn’t being compassionate, just trying to piss me off.

“I’m fine. Cold” I responded.

He didn’t answer me back so we just tried to ignore each other, though it was hard when all I heard was him panting beside me even from the short distance we had walked. Wanting some payback, I smirked and looked his way. “You alright?” I asked as I studied his portly body very openly. The glare I received was almost too much to handle as I saw it was mixed with insecurity. I resisted the urge to laugh while he grunted to reply. .

When those double doors opened however, my jokes were long forgotten as the begging and the ear-splitting screams from the SHU inmates filled my head along with the incessant hammering on the titanium doors that held them prisoner. Again just how I felt before, knowing she was going to be in there listening to this and for three weeks too…it was tough. She was going to be angry yet fragile, a hard contrast to tolerate especially since she was hostile too.

“Hello officers” a pleasant fellow CO greeted as he bowed ninety degrees and then stood up straight with a smile. Cute. “I understand you’ve been placed to cater to certain inmates needs and cover isolation so I’d like to go over a few rules first if that’s alright with you. Knowing you haven’t covered isolation before…” he motioned to me before looking at Park “…and you've only done it once or twice I’d like to just ease you into it. It’s much different from the units you are used to.” 
We followed him like we were on a school trip as he pointed to many doors telling us all about how things work here. “Never, I repeat never feel the need to poke your hand through the slats in the doors. Some of these inmates will have no problem breaking each and every one of your fingers for amusement.”

“For amusement?” I asked in disbelief.

“Imagine having little to no stimulus in there for years Miss Hwang, nothing to keep you busy. Getting your hands on something that can crack and cause somebody to scream as their bones are grinded into dust would be like a maraca to an inmate here.” I gulped at that.
“Do not communicate with the inmates if not needed. They have nothing better to do than think of ways to escape and befriending a friendly correctional officer will most certainly be in their plans. They are masters in brainwashing.”

I couldn’t help but notice Park looking my way after that was said with no doubt a smug expression.

“Solitary is a means to control extremely violent inmates that would risk lives if they were to stay in the regular rooms. Most of these people are psychotic and very dangerous so I ask that you be with another officer at all times if something were to go wrong. Approach each inmate as if they were a wild animal capable of ripping your throat out, because that’s exactly what they are”.

Maybe I’m in over my head here, this was scary. I mean, I could get killed.

“Have there…um” I hesitated now all eyes were on me “Have there been any attacks on correctional officers that proved to be fatal?” I didn’t particularly want the answer, but we all know my curiosity is a .

“Oh yeah” he frowned as he recalled. “We had an inmate who was originally in here for forty years for murder only to have an added sentence on top of that for attacking an officer. She died in here at the age of seventy.”

“What did she do to the officer?”

“A combination of things. A foolish young CO decided to enter her room without the necessary precautions because he believed ‘he knew’ the woman and that she wouldn’t hurt him. Seeing him as a means to escape, she used him as a hostage until she could go no farther since she was surrounded by other officers. Seeing there was no other way out, she knew it was all over. However, she didn’t let go of the man, she instead used her sharpened nails to cut his throat and then proceeded to bathe in the blood that showered her.”

“Oh God” I held my stomach as the uneasiness set in even more.

“We grabbed her but unfortunately couldn’t save the officer. She was dragged away still laughing at what she’d done”
“Okay, enough horror stories." He chuckled at my facial expression "I’ll show one of you around while the other will be dealing with the inmates on the opposite side of the corridor.” He turned to me and shot me another smile. “Officer Hwang, I’ll take you. Park, I’ll have an officer meet you in a moment”

Thank goodness I wouldn’t be working with him for this entire thing, he looked slightly disappointed as he no doubt wanted to watch my ‘changed attitude’ with his own eyes. I couldn’t hold back my smile and it seemed Officer…Shin noticed.

“You don’t like him do you” he grinned

“Not particularly” I replied. 

“I thought as much.” He said with a chuckle “Alright, let’s start. I want to introduce you to a few of my favourite inmates so they can give you their own opinions on solitary”

“You aren’t allowed to have favourites you know…” I teased

“Okay, the least violent people who don’t belong here then” Shin corrected himself while shooting me a charming dimpled smile. 

“Oh yeah?” Surely it’s only the officer’s point of view that matters? I mean, you could tell me what you think of solitary personally.”

“Correct, but some inmates have an insight not even I can comprehend. I can stand here and tell you that for some inmates the SHU is the only way to subdue them while they wait for death to come for them, to take them away from the horror that really is solitary. But the inmates can tell you first-hand what they experience and how it affects them. You need both sides of the story and I have to warn you…it’s not pretty. Some of these women, they really don’t belong here”

“I know” I replied, thinking of somebody in particular.

“So let’s go”

Door after door I entered and door after door I found myself more and more on th